The Drunken Botanist author writes about her love of trees. She profiles tree-lovers from around the world. Healers, ecologists, artists, curators, educators, community builders, enthusiasts, seekers, preservationists and visionaries are her divisions.
Closing with the visionaries, there's a list of Olympic oaks and Steve Job's arborist Dave Muffly, who planted Apple Park in Cupertino, California. The Olympic story is that four oaks were presented to all gold winners in Berlin in 1936. Jesse Owens grew four. One has had cuttings taken from it and the 'Hitler oaks', now a symbol of hope, are growing in Cleveland at Rockefeller Park. Untold tales such as this abound.
It's not just the US that's covered, After a guide to trees, and all illustrated by Stewart's own childlike 1950s-style watercolour illustrations, which have a nostalgic charm, South Korea, Poland, India and Ethiopia are among countries covered.
England's Linda Miles filled 13 acres in Netherton, Herefordshire, with maples and unusual conifers, with some grown for her family.
Marie Noelle Bouvet from Ipswich moved to East Anglia from France, via New Zealand. To remind her of her past, she carried a Japanese maple from each house she lived in to the next one. This became 50 maples in her first garden, and now 4,000 trees, including 650 maples.
This obsession is well-reflected in Stewart's book, an inspirational guide to those who love trees and grow them for a reason.
